


sticky notes.

by kobusrain



Category: BEYOOOOONDS (Band), Hello! Project
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/F, Falling In Love, Gay Panic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-05
Updated: 2020-03-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:20:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23022364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kobusrain/pseuds/kobusrain
Summary: The more she exchanged sticky notes with her, the more she panicked.
Relationships: Ichioka Reina/Shimakura Rika
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	sticky notes.

Rika was not really sure why she started visiting this cafe in the first place. 

Perhaps she wanted a change of pace. Something new in her mundane and somewhat redundant life. She was not quite ready for something loud, and if anything, preferred a certain type of quiet just so she could wind down after work. The cafe’s ambiance had been perfect for that. 

It was a small local cafe only five minutes away from the building she worked at, and even on the busiest of times -- which had been most of the time she went there -- the cafe still managed to be a quiet sanctuary for Rika. The sound of the espresso machine grinding up coffee beans, the light chime of the door whenever it opened, and even the footsteps of the waiters and waitresses serving food. All of it helped Rika de-stressed whenever she needed to. 

Rika quickly became a regular, and it certainly did not go unnoticed by the staff working. 

As she entered, she recognized the server who began to lead her to her seat. For the past week or so, Rika has gotten the same server, and because of it, she always got what had now become her favourite spot in the small cafe: a booth in the corner. “Thank you…” Rika paused, realizing that she never so much as looked at the server’s name tag despite having her for two whole weeks. She managed to catch a glance of it before the server noticed, however. 

“Ichioka-san?”

The server named Ichioka perked up upon hearing her name. “Oh! You’re welcome!” she replied. “The usual for you, miss?” 

This was the first time Rika was asked a question like that. In a way, it almost embarrassed her to come in the cafe so often to order the same exact thing every time. Rika hesitantly nodded, but the server did not seem to notice her hesitation that she only gave a small smile before leaving, without jotting anything down on the notepad she carried. The only thing she could do was awkwardly clear her throat before pulling out a book from her bag to read.

It did not take long before Ichioka came back with Rika’s order. A fruit salad and a cup of cappuccino. “Enjoy your meal,” said the server, who then made eye contact with Rika. It startled Rika, but began to find herself staring at the server. Maybe she had been too self-absorbed, but this was the first time Rika properly saw her features. 

_Wow… She’s kind of cute..._

The server chuckled, breaking Rika’s trance, before excusing herself. Rika cleared her throat once more. Slowly, she put her book away and picked up her fork, only to notice that there was a sticky note attached to her cup. Rika took it, and with close inspection, she noticed who wrote the note. 

_“So should I keep calling you miss?_

_-Reina”_

Without thought, Rika realized that _Reina_ was the server’s first name. “... Even her name is cute…” mumbled Rika to herself, letting out a small sigh before she finally began to eat her food. Though as she knew Reina would come back when she was finished, Rika thought about the note and decided to reply as well. 

She quickly finished her salad, and while sipping the rest of her cappuccino, she took out a pen and her sticky note pad. Rika wrote a quick note, managing to finish just in time for Reina to check up on her. “Thank you so much for the food,” said Rika, standing up and walking to the cash register with her. With the correct amount of money, a generous tip, and the note, she handed it to Reina before waving goodbye to her. 

_“Call me Rika. Though, your name sounds a lot better than mine._

_-Rika”_

* * *

Rika and Reina exchanged notes on a daily basis for the two weeks or so. They gave each other a note each everyday, and before she knew it, Rika was already filling her wall with colourful sticky notes from Reina. 

Reina’s notes were uplifting, yet simple. Sometimes she’d ask how her day was, to which Rika would respond with how good it had been. Sometimes Reina would put a cheerful message and a little drawing in the note. The drawings were, admittedly, very _bad_ but the fact that Reina acknowledged it and still tried her best each time anyway was rather endearing. 

Despite this, Rika and Reina never had a proper conversation. After two and a half weeks of only exchanging notes, Rika wanted to get to know Reina a lot more. 

There was a chance that Rika possibly liked Reina.

It was her day off -- her first one in a month, but Rika still decided to visit the cafe in her usual time. Because of this, Rika decided to dress a lot more casual and comfortable than how she would dress for work. This time she left her hair straight, and donned a slightly oversized hoodie under her coat. She was not sure how Reina would react to her dressed this way, as usually she would show up wearing blouses and skirts, but it never crossed her mind until the moment she walked in. 

Reina greeted her as if she was any normal customer, until it processed in her head who she was talking to. “Rika?” she questioned, taken aback at how different the other looked with just a simple change of clothes. “Wow, um…” 

The server was stuttering, but she kept a professional smile and led Rika to her usual seat and excused herself to get her order. As soon as Reina left, Rika began to panic. “Oh… Oh, god,” she mumbled to herself, now looking down at her clothes. _Well, I probably blew it without thinking…_ Rika sighed, further shifting herself closer and closer to the corner of the booth. However, Reina came back with a smile on her face and placed down the young woman’s usual order. 

There was still a sticky note attached to the cappuccino cup, this time coloured lavender -- her favourite colour. Rika hesitantly took the note off and read it. 

_“I think you look much better like this. I like it! :)_

_-Reina”_

“Like…?” Rika whispered, gasping a little. Over and over she read the note, while she covered her mouth. _Oh, my god. Is this what I think it is?_

She started panicking again, but this time for a different reason. Rika was _flustered_ to the point where she was shaking while she ate, because she never expected a note like that from Reina. As she finished her salad, she wrote her reply on a sticky note, and just like always she waited for Reina to come along to lead her to the till. 

Rika could not make eye contact when she handed Reina the note and her payment. After thanking her, she left in a rush, to avoid having her flustered face be seen any more. She also did not want to see Reina’s reaction to the note, which was a simple thank you and her phone number. 

_Rika, stop panicking. Stop panicking_ , she kept thinking to herself, as she rushed back home. All she wanted to do was bury herself under her covers and do nothing but think about Reina all night.

* * *

“Oh, good lord! Rika’s finally getting it!”

Rika would like to call her lunch breaks tedious, if it were not for the fact that she spent them with two _very persistent_ coworkers of hers. Shiori and Saya were younger than she was, but had started working with her at the same time. The three of them were chatting until Rika got a text from Reina.

They quickly found out a lot about each other through continuous streams of texting, and it did not take long before they also started spending time with one another outside of the cafe. Rika would be fine around Reina, but whenever she thought about the girl, she would panic inside. Shiori and Saya quickly managed to catch this, that they now tease the older girl for it. 

“I still wonder why you two haven’t started dating. She’s _clearly_ into you,” Saya pointed out, nonchalantly sipping her water with a small side glance. “If I were you, I’d just ask her out.” 

“It’s not that easy, you know? At this point I don’t even know what we _are_. We’re friends, but kinda more than that?” Rika was trying her best not to stutter, but it was not working. She was starting to get flustered at the thought of Reina once more, to which Shiori decided she would poke fun on. 

“Girl, get it together,” Shiori spoke, rolling her eyes. “Just ask her out, okay? Stop being a hopeless romantic and just _ask_ the woman.” In a similar manner to Saya, she drank her water while still maintaining eye contact with Rika, who sighed a little. “If you don’t do it, you’re gonna regret it, y’know, and besides, you _need_ a girlfriend.” 

Rika saw that they had a point. She and Reina have been talking for quite some time, and her collection of sticky notes from Reina grew more and more each day. As the two younger girls left the table, Rika dug out the note Reina gave her about her appearance. The word “ _like_ ” kept striking at her heart, but in a good way. “You can do it, Rika. Stop panicking for once,” she told herself, before pulling out her phone to text Reina. 

“ _We’re friends, right?”_

* * *

Reina never got back to her on that text, but luckily Rika was seeing her later in the cafe. 

There was never anything out of the ordinary when Reina would serve her, but this time the cafe seemed a lot quieter than usual. Rika, being more self-absorbed than usual, had not realized just how empty the cafe had been when it would usually be bustling with customers. Reina let her sit down and got her order, as usual. 

Rika was not sure how to feel about the ambiance. It was not unsettling, though it did shake her up just slightly. Perhaps she was just nervous to know how Reina would react to her stupid text. As Reina came back, Rika decided to speak up. 

“Sorry about that text!”

Reina did not falter. Instead, she kept her usual smile, but did not acknowledge what Rika said. “Enjoy your meal,” she only said, almost passive aggressively if Rika had not known this was just how Reina acted during awkward situations. She could not blame the older. Reina left, and the first thing Rika noticed was the sticky note on the cup. 

_“I wanted to be more than friends. I *like* you a lot, you know.”_

Rika could have sworn her face turned red as a tomato, and heated up _a lot_. She was expecting Reina to get mad, or at least be a little offended with such a dumb question. Certainly enough, Reina kept going in different directions, taking Rika by surprise each and every time she thought she knew the other. 

So the whole time, Rika ate her food and drank her cappuccino while sneaking glances at Reina. Their eyes would meet, and Reina would just smile sweetly at her. Sometimes a chuckle, but it told her how serious the note had been. 

_Holy shit. She really does like me back. Shiori and Saya were right…_

This time, Rika did not bother writing a note in return. As soon as she arrived to the till, she gave Reina the right amount of money as well as her usual tip. Since the cafe was empty anyway, she shoved away any more shyness and spoke the words that she would have written in a sticky note for her. Then Rika did something bold. 

She stepped closer to Reina, and while standing on her tip-toes, planted a small kiss on her cheek before walking away triumphantly.

“I like you too. A lot.”


End file.
